Faded graffiti emblems complete the image across it’s large wooden doors that swing from the busy city street into a quiet and faintly lit foyer opening up into a courtyard. Eventually you find your way around the corner and up some stairs to the new meeting place of the Greater Grace Ministry in Zagreb, Croatia. The place is quite spacious really, complete with a stage and comfortable chairs, never mind the large windows opening out over the sidewalk filling the room with sunlight. It is a step of faith as we are trusting God to bring in the finances necessary to stay. Sunday, September17th marked our first service and the new face of the Church here. The Gradska Kavana was ideally located on the center but could only afford us often noisy, public seating to share, teach, and discuss the Bible. At the new building however, we now have a place where we can worship, sing, and praise the Lord with our voices (led by Susanna) as Shaban, a boisterous Christian soul, plays along on the guitar. It also facilitates the appropriate atmosphere for a pulpit ministry, where people can listen to the messages being taught from the Word of God without distractions. We are very encouraged in the Lord and believe that he will continue to bring the people. We are praying for amazing things in the month of October!
Wednesday evenings we have Bible School at that same location and will soon layout the curriculum for this new season. The emphasis will be on discovering the character and nature of God, who He is and what He has done. This is most important. As A.W. Tozer wrote in his book, The Knowledge of the Holy, “We tend by a secret law of the soul to move toward our mental image of God./ For this reason, the gravest question before the church is always God Himself, and the most portentous fact about any man is not what he at a given time may say or do, but what he in his deep heart conceives God to be like.” Bible School is not behavior modification, it is knowing God according to His Word. “In the simplest of terms,” explains Lewis Sperry Chafer in Systematic Theology, “God has spoken of Himself, and of things infinite and eternal. The Bible is that message.” What an invaluable asset , we have the Word of God! Never mind what so and so has said about Him, what has God said about Himself? “Thou thoughtest [kjv] that I was altogether such a one as thyself…,” -God [Ps. 50:21]. Unlike this poor gentleman the Lord addressed in the psalms, A.W. Tozer writes, “The man who comes to a right belief about God is relieved of ten thousand temporal problems.” That’s Bible School!
It was sometime last week, perhaps Tuesday morning, when we listened as a team to a Missions Focus class in Baltimore from December 16th, 2004 by Pastor Scibelli on “Not Limiting God.” He spoke from 2 Kings 13:16, 17 when Elisha encouraged the King of Isreal to shoot the arrows… the arrows of the Lord’s Deliverance… out the window towards the East. Elisha became angry when the King only shot three times, he limited God by his lack of faith. Inspired by this message, Pastor George and I ascended prayer hill [or the upper city as the rest of the population knows it] and began to “shoot arrows of faith” over the city. We prayed for God to fill our meeting room with people, we prayed for each of our young disciples by name as we often do, we prayed for a strong Bible School in the city training many Croatians over the years and sending out missionaries into the neighboring countries of former Yugoslavia. It was a beautiful time just letting the arrows fly. Not paying particular attention to the time, on our way back down to the square, the Upper City cannon blasted over our heads, it was 12 noon. My ears are still ringing. Aware of this particular ritual I was still caught off guard, so picture the sweet tourist lady standing close by, yeah, she panicked. As a matter of fact, I read a tourist brochure that warned pregnant woman from traveling near the tower at noontime as the blast has been known to induce premature labor! With that said, it was a most thrilling experience and I took it as God’s humorous way of saying, “I heard your prayers, they’re on the way.”
6 comments:
Hey there Tanguay family. It has been a while since the last post making this one that much more exciting to read. Great news about the new location to hold services. Trusting God that there would be no empty seats in the near future and that the finances would not be an issue. Know that you are prayed for often. Until next time...Oh yeah...how's the food!? :-)
HI, It is so exciting to have this great place to meet.When you look at the building from the front doors is your room the upstairs windows that are open? I like to picture myself there with you all. Let the arrows fly! Mom
Where is Camden Tanguay in your new meeting romm? Thought I'd see her running down the isle.
Ben you should write a book someday
I heard a bird at break of day, Sing from the autumn trees, A song so mystical and calm, so full of certainties, No man, I think could listen long, Except upon his knees. Yet this was but a simple bird, alone among the trees. William Percy Thanks for the pictures of camden. Dad tang
you forgot to update us on Camden, how is she doing? -Hayley
Post a Comment